Hello,
I have had vertigo for over 4 years now. Please can someone help me out?!?!
I am a 25 year old white male who is in decent shape.
It started during a rough period in my life, so Im unsure where it came from, or what could have caused it.
At first the "attacks" were only happening in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. I would feel dizzy in my sleep and plunge myself to wake up fast, and the whole room would be spinning.
Then I noticed that anytime I layed flat, I felt the same sensations. It feels like a concussion and vertigo at the same time. Its unbearable.
Here recently I have been dizzy every single day. Everytime I turn my head I feel a shift in consciousness and vertigo, where as I used to would have to throw my head back in order for that to happen.
At first all the doctors thought it was BPPV. But they could never note any nystagmus of my eyes. Then I had a CT Scan in 05 to rule out any tumor, and that came back negative (thankGOD)
So I went to Duke university for vestibular testing (in summer 06), and I went through a hearing test, rotary chair test, and a caloric stimulation test. Afterwards the doctor saw me and confirmed I had no nystagmus of the eyes.
And earlier this year, I had a low grade (0.6 telsa) MRI scan done of my brain, in an upright scanner.
Im not sure if the low grade images could show why Im having problems. They want me to have a high grade MRI&MRA done, but I can't lay flat......it feels like a death wish.
I feel hopeless.
Now its gotten a lot worse.I'm seeing a new neurologist in my area who suspects several things (ranging from, but not limited to): Head Injury, Vasculitis...and others.
NOTE: The 'real' vertigo is severely worsened when I throw my head back. It feels like imminent death. Or when I lay completely flat on the ground.
Originally, I just had to watch out for that and sleep with 4 pillows behind my head. But here recently, it has started to attack me from all angles......and even sleeping with pillows hasn't completely stopped the spinning and waking up with vertigo.
A few questions:
I experimented with drugs in the past and had a few bad experiences. Is it possible that I could have messed up the chemicals in my brain permanently?
(I knot that may sound paranoid, but I honestly believe had I not did drugs, I would not have this problem)
I genuinely feel that if I layed flat long enough (which only feels like a few minutes), I'd die. So in order for them to do a MRI and MRA I might have to be put to sleep. I've never been put to sleep before, and I don't want to die from something as simple as laying flat.
Is there anyway possible this can kill me?
What could it possibly be, and why in the heck did it get a lot worse all of a sudden?
I feel so close to death.....and my neurologist doesn't see me till Nov.5, which is a long ways away. Should I just go and check into a good medical hospital (not one in my area) and let them run me through a series of tests?
Another thing, I always hear my heart beat in my ears all the time. Especially at night when Im trying to sleep or when I wake up.
I literally have so many symptoms, it would be hard to tell you what I do and don't feel.
One thing is for sure though, its driving me completely crazy.
Please help. Thanks